Whatever
by Elyse Black
Summary: HIATUS. Chapter 1: High Fidelity, my rewrite of Degrassi season 5 finale. Chapter 2: Here Comes Your Man, my rewrite of Degrassi season 6 premiere. The view from the eyes of newly kindled romance of Alex Nunez and Jay Hogart.
1. High Fidelity

High Fidelity Part 1.5  
My Degrassi One-Shot  
SPOILERS AHEAD: This is basically my version of how the first part of the season finally should've ended, hence the 1.5. If Paige makes out with Spinner when she was "a lesbian" and Alex and Jay can hook up even though she is a lesbian also. That line totally ruined my hopes and dreams: "I'm not bi…I'm a lesbian." I don't give a fuck, Jay is gorgeous and I'm making you use him for his body just like Paige did. The italics are lines from the episode.** I own nothing.** Okay so here we go.

_"You looking for a shoulder to cry on. Or maybe just a quick rebound?"_

"Jay, I'm not bi. I'm not confused. I'm a lesbian, an actual lesbian. Who just broke up with her first girlfriend and it sucks."

"I'm sorry. That's one of the first times I said I'm sorry and actually meant it."

"That's one of the first times you said sorry and I actually believed you."

"Um, do you wanna watch some TV, with me? No funny business, just friends, hanging out."

"Fine."

They sat down and Jay kept turned away from the TV to look at Alex.

"What?" She finally asked, exasperated. Jay smiled and turned back around.

"Nothing." He muttered. "It's just, your hair looks good like that." Alex rolled her eyes and put both feet on the floor, pulling at the loose threading of her pull-over. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Not really. Know how when you're angry and sad that you do something stupid?"

"Um, sure."

"I kind of went out and got a tattoo." She said with a laugh. "I hate that I'm like this right now. So emotional and insane."

"You're not insane. I felt the same way when we broke up."

"Which time?" Jay laughed.

"Okay, point taken. Can I see it?" Alex stood, turned her back to him and lifted her shirt a little. There just above her hips was the same design she drew in her notebook a million times. She sat back down to see Jay staring at her again.

"What?" He turned back around again.

"Nothing." He said. Alex brought one knee up her chest and picked at the worn edge of her jeans. "So what happened with Paige?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I do have one non-Paige related question for you though."

"Shoot."

"When we were together, and I don't just mean dating, I mean when we were like _together_, did you think about girls?" Alex smiled and waited before answering. The game was over and a commercial about beer was on.

"No. I was into you. The whole liking girls thing was post us."

"Oh…well good. I wouldn't wanna be like 'the guy that turned you gay' or something."

"No." Alex said smiling again. She had missed talking to Jay, actually talking. Towards the end that didn't happen. They were either hooking up or fighting. "Were you serious about just being a quick rebound?"

"No, of course not. Well only half serious." Alex laughed. "Why? Are you changing your mind?"

"No of course not." Alex grabbed the remote from his lap and hit the off button. "Well, maybe. I'm still thinking about it.""But you're not into guys."

"Well maybe you could change my mind." She said teasing him. "And I was into you, remember?" She smiled and laughed. Jay looked away awkwardly at his hands. "You really loved me, huh?"

"Do you really have to ask?" He said softly.

"You had a pretty shitty way of showing it."

"I know. If I could do it all over again I never would've been such an asshole."

"I know you mean that." She sighed. "I think we rushed into it though. I feel like it was a million years ago, that we didn't know any better. Then it got to that point where we either yelled or had sex."

"It wasn't like that."

"Trust me, it was. But you're the only guy I've been with." He raised his eyebrows. "You didn't know that?" He shook his head no.

"But since we broke up, you haven't…at all?"

"Nope. Makes you feel guilty doesn't it?"

"A little."

"I'm glad." Alex said with a smile.

"Hey well I haven't had a girlfriend and you have so you should feel pretty guilty." Jay added.

"Not at all" He grinned, realizing how much he had really missed her.

"Don't you wish we could just go back? I mean before all that shit happened. When it was just us and no real drama."

"We had a pretty good amount of drama."

"Is that why you cut all your hair off?"

"That was before Degrassi. I was mad, so I went out and did something stupid."

"That wasn't before us, though. Here's me hoping I wasn't what made you mad."

"No it was my mom that time…but I don't want to talk about that." Alex got up and stood in front of him.

"Oh no?"

"No." She said while unzipping her hoodie to reveal a skin tight tank top. "In fact," She let it drop to the floor. She straddled Jay's lap and smiled. "I don't really want to talk at all."

"Alex," He said, barely above a whisper.

"What?"

"I, you don't know what you're doing." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him and everything came rushing back. He pulled away from her.

"Please don't tempt me, Lex."

"What you don't want me?"

"You know that I do. But I love you and I don't want you to do something you're gonna regret later. I don't wanna be one of your stories, like your hair or the tattoo."

"A few months ago you would've been fine with it."

"Is it that hard for you to believe I've changed?"

"Um, yes." She said with a grin. "Jay, I love you, I always have. I've just been waiting for you to figure it out."

"And the whole being a lesbian?"

"Oh like it doesn't turn you on?" Alex smiled. "I'm keeping my options open. Is that really so wrong?" Jay's face erupted into a big goofy grin.

"Not at all. In fact I support you completely." Alex barely had time to recover before he kissed her again. Jay then picked Alex up, her legs wrapped around his waist, and carried her to her bedroom without once breaking the kiss.

I'll let you decide what happens next

x0x0  
...  
I know I'm on hiatus but I finally finished it and I couldn't resist. I just watched High Fidelity again and it was driving me nuts. I'll be off hiatus a.s.a.p., september 6th is the latest. Besides I had to give the Alex/Jay fans something, since I'm not continuing my other story. Much much love.  
-Elyse


	2. Here Comes Your Man

((Okay, so I take back what I said about this being a one shot. I have a compulsion, sue me. This story is now called **_Whatever_**. It delves into Alex and Jay's newly kindled romance thing, and until I decide to stop it is a permanent story. It's actually more of an episode guide, if you will, seeing everything through Alex and Jay's eyes. I changed the title from _High Fidelity 1.5_ because this new chapter is based in the season premier, _Here Comes Your Man_. **SPOILERS AHEAD.** If you don't want me to ruin the new episode for you, then don't read this until after you watch it. I'm so anxious to see what the writers are gonna do with Alex this season, but regardless, this is my take on what I think should happen.))

((**I OWN NOTHING.**))

So okay this is set a while after graduation, summer is winding down, it's a week before the first day of school, before the opening scene to the episode. I hope you all like it.

"What the hell is this?" Sean asked of Jay, while pushing an issue of Elle Girl Magazine off the broken down coffee table, in its place a box filled with his stuff. Jay came out of the connecting bedroom and half-smiled.  
"Yeah that's uh Alex's."  
"That explains the semi-cleanliness of this place." Sean said looking around the shabby $200 a month one-bedroom split level. The small living area had a couch, coffee table and very beaten up TV stand, without a TV on it. The walls had a few posters of cars, but that was mostly it for decorations. It led into an even smaller kitchen and next to that was the hallway to the bedroom. It was small and a little cramped, but it was the best Sean could ask for. "So Alex is living here?"  
"Sort of." Sean raised his immaculate eyebrows at Jay. "She's here everyday and she tends to sleep over a lot too. And as you see she has plenty of her crap here. But it's unofficial."  
"And you two…"  
"Also unofficial."  
"But I had heard she was—"  
"She is. And she isn't. She's both, I guess."  
"Weird." Sean said sitting down.  
"I like to look at it as hott, actually. How many more boxes are out there?"  
"Two I think. But it should just be some clothes."  
"How could you possibly have two boxes filled with only jeans and tanks."  
"Shut up and get the boxes, Jay." He said while throwing the keys over to him. "Mind if I check out the bedroom?"  
"Not at all. Just expect plenty more of Alex's stuff."  
"Please I just left the most unkempt house in the world. Now I know where I get it from."

The rest of that day continued as such. The boys unpacked Sean's stuff, adding a few more posters to the walls and products in the bathroom.  
"So now explain this to me." Sean asked his re-introduced best friend. "This unofficial Alex lesbian thing."  
"There's really nothing to say. Neither of us want a real relationship, obviously it becomes too much drama. But she keeps me straight."  
"Pun intended?" Sean said with a smirk.  
"Haha, no. She gets me, I get her. We're best friends. When we finally broke up we figured out we needed each other. But she also likes girls, and she has the freedom to hook up with how ever many of them she wants to, and so can I. Whenever we feel up to it, we hook up and we know there is no commitment."  
"So you're like best friends with benefits. And she cleans your apartment."  
"Exactly."  
"Not a bad deal."  
"Not at all. In fact it's probably the best I've been in a while."  
"But isn't it weird for you to know that while you making-out she might been thinking about Paige?"  
"Once again Cameron, you miss the boat. I kind of find that extremely hott. I hoping one of these days she'll bring back one of her friends and I can join in the on fun."  
"Ha."  
"Right, like you've never pictured it happening."  
"Shut up, Jay."  
"Admit it, it's pretty hott."  
"Talking about me?" Alex came through the door in denim short shorts, a tight black tank top and four-inch heel sandals.  
"Indeed we were...Heidi." Jay said making fun of Alex's long brown pig tails.  
"Hmm how did I know you were going to say that?" She said lightly punching his bare shoulder. "And how did I not know that you were moving in today?" Alex purposefully dug her heel into Jay's foot on her way to hug Sean.  
"You look amazing Alex."  
"Same. Long hair has apparently done some good to both of us. So now that the greetings are over, you two need to get off your asses and into the car."  
"Why?" Sean asked, new to the agenda.  
"Well rent is due on Saturday, and real jobs suck. We're going to the races up in Woodbridge. It's pretty much the new place to be."  
"Especially since we've been winning." Alex added.  
"We? Who installed the mods and drove the car, sweetheart?"  
"Whose ass got you in with Troy and the guys in the first place, _sweetheart_? Oh wait that was me. So get your shit together and let's go. I just need to change out of these shorts."  
"Why?" Jay said with a smirk.  
"They're way to tight."  
"I disagree."  
"You would. I'll be right back." She clicked off to the bedroom and shut the door behind her.  
"She loves me." Jay said with a goofy grin. It was the most content Sean had ever seen him.  
They ended up winning two races a piece that night. Sean wanted to finish unpacking so Jay dropped him off at the apartment, then drove ten minutes to the park. He and Alex had the chairs of his car in reclining position, the open sunroof gave them a view of the stars.  
"Hmm." Alex mumbled with her eyes closed in exhastion. "Wanna know what I think?"  
"No." Jay answered then took a large gulp from his bottle of beer.  
"I think you're trying to get my drunk enough for you to take advantage of me."  
"I could never take advantage of you. You'd probably kill me. And if two beers gets you drunk…then I should've thought of this a long time ago." Alex's eyes snapped open and she leaned over the seat to sucker punch Jay's shoulder.  
"I don't even know why we're friends. We have nothing in common."  
"We both like girls, that something we have in common."  
"I also like guys and you don't. Or is there something you wanted to tell me?"  
"No way in hell."  
"Never say never, Jason."  
"Whatever you say, Alexis."  
"Fine so let's talk about the one thing we have in common. Girls at Degrassi. Tell me which ones you think are good looking and then I'll tell you why you won't ever have a chance with them."  
"Fine. Hmm, well I only saw her from far away but London did Ashley Kerwin good."  
"I agree. But her and Jimmy are back together."  
"Ellie Nash."  
"Okay, you can't hit on girls who are friends with me."  
"Manny Santos."  
"Slut. I'm sorry, Craig's personal slut."  
"Amy--"  
"Has a horse face and every STD in existence."  
"Ouch, weren't you two best friends?"  
"Yeah, once upon a time. Please continue."  
"Umm Emma, I guess."  
"Gosh do you have a thing for girls who've already dated Sean."  
"Admit she's pretty hott."  
"I'm more of a brunette girl."  
"Oh yeah, what about Paige?"  
"That was an exception."  
"A bad one."  
"You don't think Paige is pretty?"  
"She's decent. But she has a huge nose and well she's a bitch."  
"I'm a bitch."  
"Well maybe you're my exception."  
"We're not dating."  
"Oh c'mon Alex. Maybe we're not officially dating. But since that day when we talked I've barely looked at other girls." Alex rolled her eyes. "Okay so that's a lie. But I haven't gone out with or hooked up with any girls."  
"I didn't ask you to do that."  
"I know. I'm not blaming you. We hang out everyday, we do basically everything together and as time went on your little sleepovers became more and more frequent. Neither one of us are really seeing anyone else. Doesn't that sound like a couple to you?"  
"It does. But why does everything have to be so official? Why can't we just keep it the way it is?" She scooted over as far as she could and caressed his face. "Okay?"  
"Yeah, okay." He smiled then they both lay back down. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were just using me for sex."  
"And for once in your life you'd be right about something." Alex responded followed by a slightly drunk giggle fit. "I'm not sure I like it when you get so serious on me all of a sudden." Alex sat up and turned on the CD player. "Is my Trapt cd still in here?"  
Jay remained in his chair, starting to close his eyes himself. "It should be if it was yesterday. Haven't touched it."  
"Pick a number."  
"Two."  
"Okay," Alex pressed track two and the song began to play a song with a very fast start.  
_I don't know anything at all and I'm somebody else. It could take years to find you, it could take years to find myself, and I don't need to hear your answer I just need you to see, that I think it's time to break down these walls that we throw up.  
_"What is this song called?" Jay asked, only pretending to be interested, wishing the he lyrics didn't perfectly outline their recent argument.  
"Umm, Made of Glass." Alex said, consulting the CD cover.  
_Am I still breathing or have I lost that feeling? Am I made of glass 'cause you see right through me. I don't know who I am and you're the only one who sees that. I can't ask these questions that cannot be answered today._  
Jay finally looked up and over at Alex. Now he was very interested in what the song was saying. Maybe somehow he could use it to get Alex to see what he was talking about.  
_And even if everything goes wrong and we start to fall apart, I will understand where you are, I will understand this by myself. And I don't need to hear your answer I just need you to feel like there are no boundaries at all.  
_"So…" Alex said grabbed the beer from the cup holder and taking a large gulp. She didn't do well with very serious conversation, especially not with a stomach full of alcohol.  
"So." Jay said, his intense eyes beaming into hers. He wanted her to truly understand that he had changed, but Alex could never accept change, even if it was a good thing. They had known each other six years and she still had trouble with having stable relationship. It also scared the crap out of her that Jay always seemed to know what she was thinking.  
_And how far have we come, too far to throw away the past?  
Will you be there waiting for me?  
I have to ask what we are, if I ask today it just won't last.  
_With that last line Alex leaned forward and pushed the small power button. Thanks a lot of livening the mood stupid song, she thought. Her coherence was not so good and when she read the time she somehow saw 2:04 even though it was only 12:07.  
"Shit. I can't get in so late, my mom will kill me. Can we go home please?"  
Jay smiled and remembered the stupid phrase, home is where the heart is, and Alex wanted to go home with him.

With me… he thought over and over again while driving back.  
((I wanted to end it there, on that bitter sweet note. But each chapter is actually an episode. This next is about a week after this))  
…  
It was Sunday morning and Jay was lying on his back counting the cracks in bedroom ceiling, being vividly reminded of a song he had heard on the radio. Something about Sunday mornings, and the guy being in bed with some chick. He titled his head and saw that he was that guy, in bed with, in his opinion, the most incredible girl ever. With a yawn she turned over on her side so they were facing each other. Jay messed up a lot of things in his life, and he rarely got second chances. This is was practically his tenth chance with Alex , and he didn't want to screw it up. She was the best thing that happened to him. If it weren't for that whole being expelled from high school thing, his life would be close to perfect. He had the three things in live that made him happiest: girlfriend, best friend and cars. He had a place to live and steady job. Yup, what could go wrong now?

Alex shifted over and put her head on Jay's shoulder, he autonomously put his arm around her. Her body heat felt nice, especially since he wasn't wearing a shirt and Alex was taking most of the blanket.  
"I cannot believe you actually did that." She was referring the tattoo on his chest that had her name in a design.  
"Okay, Lex. We've had this discussion, you hate it."  
"It just looks so weird. Besides Alex could be a guy's name so people are gonna think you're gay. Which for you would be horrible because of your homophobia."  
"I'm not homophobic."  
"No you're a homo-hater. My bad."  
"Whatever."  
"Well I like the one on your arm, it makes you look sexy." Alex said exaggerating her voice.  
"Gee, thanks." Jay responded jokingly.  
"Uh. I feel so sick. What time is it?" Jay looked at the clock on the bedside table.  
"Shit it's almost twelve. I can't believe we slept so late."  
"No, still tired." Was Alex's response. A knock came at the door.  
"Are you two decent?" Besides Jay's missing shirt, he was still wearing his pants from the night before. Alex had the blanket covering all but her shoulders.  
"Yeah come in, Sean." He came in not completely dressed himself, wearing only a tank and some boxers, but it wasn't anything either Alex or Jay weren't already used to, it had already been a week.  
"Did you guys just wake up? And I thought I had slept in." He went over to the dresser and messed with the assorted things, more of them Alex's than Jays. "So after you drag your lazy asses out of bed, what are we going to eat?"  
"Seriously, I can't even move. I think I'm sick."  
"Fantastic." Jay said sarcastically.  
"Can I keep this, Alex?" Sean asked her holding up a plain black hair thing.  
"Yeah sure."  
"Okay how about me and Sean go out and eat and then bring you back something since you seem so against moving your ass out of my bed." Jay said while getting up and slipping his feet into his sneakers. He picked up a black shirt from the bedside table. "Is this clean?" He asked.  
"Should be," Alex said then pulled the blankets over her head.  
"Where's my hat?" Jay asked himself while Sean went into the accompanying bathroom.

"Kitchen." Alex said from under the covers. Jay sat back down and pulled them away from her face.  
"Are you okay?"  
"Yeah fine. Just really tired."  
"Alright. We shouldn't take too long." He leaned in to kiss her but she stopped him.  
"Rule number one." She said with a smile.  
"No kissing until we both brush our teeth." Alex nodded seriously and then lay back down. "You're a very weird girl."  
After Sean and Jay brushed their teeth and were fully dressed they headed into the downtown area. The picked up food and then headed to the vendor because Sean had said he wanted a milkshake. Just as Jay was biting into his vanilla ice cream cone, Sean yelled across the lot.  
"Emma?  
"Sean?  
"Hey come on." Sean told him as he walked toward Emma and her blonde boyfriend.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I moved back. I'm with Jay now."  
"Easy broke back mountain. He means he's sleeping on my couch." Jay added quickly.  
"Oh Peter this is Sean. Sean this is Peter. My boyfriend." _Gee thanks for introducing me. Not that I actually care. _Jay thought.  
_"_Oh. How's it going man?" Sean shook Peter's hand.  
"So you're the Sean?" Blondie asked.  
"Guess so. Well, see you guys at school tomorrow." Sean said while taking an obnoxiously loud sip from his milkshake.  
"You're back at Degrassi?"  
"Yeah. Just thought I should finish my senior year. It's gonna be pretty cool, we might actually have classes together this time."  
"Yeah." Emma said, not thinking it was quite so cool.  
"Sean, man. I gotta get back before…ya know."  
"Oh yeah. So I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then. Bye Emma, Peter." Jay had already started walking back to Sean's car. "Why were you so quiet?" Sean asked as he pulled out of the lot.  
"Poine Dexter is Hatzilakos son. And a huge loser." Jay said simply, finishing off the cone.  
Sean came to halt in front of the apartment and Jay got out.  
"Jay, man. I'm gonna head down the garage and install that new mod."  
"Alright. Tell Troy I'll be at work around four."

The rest of the week passed the same when until Sean went to school, then Alex and Jay stayed up at the races from noon till midnight, working and racing making more than enough money to make rent. Sean began joining them once school was out. It wasn't until Wednesday when Peter Stone's baby blue convertible pulled into the lot.  
"Jay did you finish with the wheel yet?" Sean asked while reading over some blue prints.  
"Uh yeah. Hey, man. Poine Dexter is in his daddy's car and he's waving at us. Explain." Jay first felt an immense hatred for the kid but that was soon soothed by Emma's outfit.  
"That's Peter, Emma's boyfriend, that's not his dad's car, it's his. And we're gonna mod it." No never mind, hatred came back. Sean sat down on the hood next to Alex.  
"What? Why? Why would we do that?" Jay asked, extremely confused. But that wasn't entirely new for Jay.  
"What's the phrase; keep your friends close, your enemies closer?" Alex asked, now curious. She never liked Emma, Manny or even Peter but she knew Sean and how his mind worked.  
"Whatever, Alex." Sean responded him and Jay's eyes both glued to Emma. Alex playfully hit his (a/n: amazingly beautiful) biceps with her gloves.  
"Oh lord, forgive my sinful thoughts." Alex rolled her eyes at Jay's comment. She had finally gotten to the point where she barely noticed if he talked about other girls. It was something that she had finally accepted about his personality, and what made her remember why they weren't exclusive. Sean pulled Jay aside to chastise him while Alex just sat there. Then the blonde couple plus skank walked over to the car. Sean and Peter shared some small talk that Alex wasn't listening to, then walked over to his car. Alex looked between Emma and Jay who were in the middle of an intense staring contest. Deciding it was too much Alex walked away and started talking to Manny of all people.  
"He so never got over her." Alex said nonchalantly while sitting on the trunk of Peter's car with Manny.  
"What?" Manny asked.  
"I mean yeah him and Ellie were great together. But you know that whole bullshit about never forgetting you first love." That was when Emma turned to look at Manny, whose only response was an angry glare.  
"For her sake I truly hope not. So is that what happened with you and Jay?"  
"Sort of. We're not really together but we're so used to it. Just seemed right." Alex wondered if she was going to end up eating her words.

The next day there in the same exact place desperately waiting for three o'clock when Sean would finally arrive from school.  
"Is it sealed?" Alex asked from the driver's seat of Jay's civic. He closed the hood over the engine.  
"Yeah, just turn it on so I can make sure it won't pop while I'm driving." She did as he asked and he checked the piece. "Perfect. Okay turn the car off." Alex got out of the car and joined him on the hood.  
"So I wanted to talk to you about something."  
"Does it involve you and a condiment?"  
"Uhh no."  
"Well then I'm not really that interested," Alex punched his shoulder in response.  
"No, really listen. There is probably no way you're going to get back in at Degrassi. And even though you could probably get in at another school I know that you wouldn't want to."  
"Point, Lex?"  
"Instead of school why don't you do like a GED program." Jay simply rolled his eyes. "Yeah okay, I know you think me hounding you about getting your diploma is ridiculous. Especially because I wasn't exactly honor student of the year. But this is actually really important. I know you think you'll be fine with just working at Cameron's Custom Cars or whatever but being with Paige made me think about the future a lot more. I'm just saying please think about it."  
"Okay, I will think about it." He said, more so to get her off his back, also saved by the appearance of Sean's red mod.  
"What the hell is he doing here…again?" Jay asked about an hour later when he saw Peter's car pull in.  
"I told him to come. I wanted to see if the mod worked out."  
"Fantastic. I really hate that kid." Jay said throwing down the tool his was using. Barely ten minutes after that while Jay was working on Peter's car, the two started arguing.  
"What the hell are you doing?" Peter asked of him.  
"Poine Dexter, do you realize I can make it so your brakes don't work anymore. Lay the hell off me."  
"Dude, call me Poine Dexter one more time."  
"And you'll what?" Jay started to move towards him. Alex put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back.  
"Ladies, if you want to fight, settle it on the street."  
"Yes!" Peter said excitedly tried to close the hood. Jay rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever." Alex smiled and started to walk towards the center of the ring.  
"And hey, we both know I'm no lady." He said with a wink. She smirked back.  
"Okay everybody! Jay and Peter to the start line!"  
"Excuse me, Jay? Did you put him up to this?" Emma came over with Sean trailing behind her.  
"Hey this was Johnny Hardtop's idea."  
"Its ragtop, idiot."  
"Whatever, dork. Look do you wanna race or not?"  
That set it off. Everyone moved towards the fences and cleared the rest of the lot. Alex spray painted a line in front of the two cars. She threw the can to Sean and stood between the opponents.  
"Okay. Around the lamppost and down to the fence. Ready…go!"  
Unfortunately Peter somehow won, and then the cops came. Alex was already at the apartment when Jay showed up.  
"Who did you get a ride from?" He asked while sitting down on the couch next to her.  
"Troy. I can't believe you actually lost." She said while laughing.  
"Okay shut up. We gave him a new mod on a way better car. And he cut me off."  
"If that's your excuse."

But that of course was just the beginning of the Peter Stone's wrath.  
Alex was sitting with Jay in the alleyway behind their apartment building. The landlord was letting them park there and work on their cars. It was only one o'clock. And at exactly 12:02, Jay's beat up Nextel started ringing.  
"Hell—?"  
"You have my car, idiot. I'm walking home from Degrassi."  
"What?" Jay asked, genuinely confused. "Why are you coming back now, I said I'd get you when school let out."  
"Well school just let out pretty damn early for me. That asshole Poine Dexter must've broken in to my locker and put the pot there. I'm fucking suspended."  
"Shit. Well I'm in the laneway." Jay snapped the phone shut. Alex shot him a questioning look. "Blondie is going to die tonight." Alex nodded, putting the puzzle together. "You better go because if I know Sean he'll be kicking and screaming. I'll calm him down. Just take my car and wait for us." He threw her he keys and she pulled out of the lot, parking a street away. Barely ten minutes later Sean came in. Jay was sitting in the passenger seat fiddling with the newest piece of equipment. Sean stayed relatively calm for the first half hour, while Jay was waiting for his inevitable explosion.  
"Put this back for me man." Jay said nonchalantly, handing Sean the tool, very proud of his handiwork. That's when Sean started flipping things over and kicking anything in sight. "Yeah I was gonna use those but whatever."  
"Whatever is right. Alright I'm out of here, man. I'm going back to Wasaga."  
"Man that is so weak. You're gonna let that little wiener beat you?"  
"He's already won. Alright, I've been kicked out of school, Emma thinks I'm a drug dealer. I'm screwed man."  
"Hey, bummer times." Jay said, going back to one of his favorite slogans. "But at least you'll be able to sleep better knowing you fixed that punk."  
"Kicking the crap out of him isn't gonna help. Alright, his mom will probably have me charged with assault or something."  
"There are others ways to beat him. I bet he's at the races again, he was there last night looking for a race. And I finally installed the nitrous oxide on your ride. Just the edge you need to smoke that little punk." Jay waited for Sean reaction and was satisfied when Sean broke out into a wide smile.  
"Let's teach him a lesson." He said heading to the driver's seat.  
"Yeah. Pain 101, my favorite subject."  
He flipped open his phone and pressed the talk button. "We're heading up to race. I'll be right there."  
Once Jay had his car, he led the way up to Woodbridge. It was about forty-five minutes away. Before they got there it started to rain. With traffic and rain, by the time they got there it had already gotten dark. Jay parked and barely had time to turn off the car before he saw Sean storming towards Peter's car. By the time he made it over, Sean had already pulled him from the driver's seat.  
"You know what this is about. We've got a score to settle."  
"Dude you tried to steal my girlfriend. Don't they teach you guy code in waga-waga bay?"  
"Don't they teach you to fight your own battles? Not to get your mom fight them for you?"  
"Yeah you spent some time in her office today, right? You know she keeps a lot of cool stuff in there. Like permanent records, answer keys, _locker combinations_."  
"You son of—" Jay saw that as the right moment to step between them.  
"Easy Sean, easy. Remember what we came here to do okay?"  
"Yeah I do. You and me. Alright we're gonna settle this out there, on the street."  
"What? You wanna race me? In that hunk of junk? You're on, bitch." Jay put a hand in front of Sean again to stop him from physically hitting the kid, even if he really wanted to do it himself. He was such a cocky son of a bitch.  
Alex and Jay watched from the parking lot when Sean and Peter tore down the closed down street.  
"Punk." Jay scoffed.  
"I have a really bad feeling about this."  
"Are you kidding, Sean is gonna smoke it."  
"No I mean… whatever." Alex stayed silent for a minute. "Really Jay. I think something is wrong. Go after them and make sure."  
"What?"  
"Jay I'm serious." Jay, with a confused look got into his car and sped down the empty streets. That is until he came across both Sean and Peter's cars and Sean kneeling down next to an unconscious guy on the sidewalk. _What the fuck…_were his only thoughts. So much for nothing going wrong in his life.  
"Is he still breathing?"  
"Yeah where's that ambulance?" Sean asked no one in particular looking around franticly.  
"Sean, listen to me. You have to go." Jay turned to his friend.  
"What?"  
"Peter is a minor, you're eighteen you're gonna do hard time for this."  
"Dude don't listen to him."  
"Am I talking to you?" Peter walked away on the verge of tears. "Sean get in your car and drive." He physically picked Sean up. "Go!" Jay didn't look back as Sean drove away. He waited for the ambulance to come but then also quickly got of out of there before he was involved in it. The rest of the night he sat on the couch with Alex frantically dialing his cell phone trying to find someone who could tell him about Sean. It wasn't until midnight that he got a call from the local jail. Sean was being charged with hit and run, a trail to be held within the next week.  
Needless to say, nobody was having a great time right now.

**((There goes episode 1. I'm sorry it took me so long to write. But in my defense it is one of the longest chapters I have ever written. I started this while watching Here Comes Your Man, and instead of wasting space and making a whole new story I decided to continue the one-shot. I sincerely hope you like it, and if not at least read it. I know it's uber boring to have to read dialogue that you've seen in the episode a million times, but please bear with me.  
Review with comments/criticisms/suggestions/anything. Thanks in advance.))**


	3. True Colours

**((Here goes Chapter 3/Epsiode 2: True Colours. Edit 2. The original version was half-assed to the extreme so I'm redoing it because I can't _Working For The Weekend_ without fixing this. Thanks for the review I got, but never lie to me again, lol; it was a horrible short chapter.)) **

**((Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or whichever song they took the title from. Oh and also from the last chapter the song they're playing is Made Of Glass by Trapt which I also own zero part of. Um and to someone who asked, I'm making the fat guy with a cross on his arm that you see at the races Troy, basically the runner of the whole affair, and Jay's boss. And as yet another side note, the song Jay is thinking of while in bed is Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Okay done now.))**

"Oh my god." Were the words the spewed from Alex's mouth when she laid her eyes Sean Cameron. Jay saw the reason in a giant purple and black blotch that covered half of Sean's face. He was sitting on the cot in the infirmary of the jail. Alex and Jay sat down on either side of him once the nurse left them alone, Alex helping him wrap his bloody knuckles.  
"What happened?" Jay asked. I'd say it was pretty freaking obvious what had happened. Hard to believe this was only Sean's fifth day in this place.  
"Some guy jumped me." He said struggling to talk and keep the icepack held firmly in place. "No reason other than that I'm the new guy." They sat in silence for a moment, Sean wincing in pain. "Have either of you heard from Emma?"  
"No. But I heard her boyfriend's daddy hooked him up. He's not even spending the night in jail. His hearing is today."  
"Damnit, the hearing. Yeah so looking forward to Tuesday so I can have the family of the guy I hit glare at me long enough to have the judge send me back to this hellhole. This is bullshit."  
"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex asked him still concerned, the swelling was only just starting to go down.  
"Don't worry about me. They said I could spend the night here so I don't look like complete crap for the hearing. How's Troy and the guys?"  
"They're good. They would come by but you know they all have major police issues."  
"I don't even care. I just want to get out of here." Sean said, his voice raising.  
"Look I'm going to Mr. Simpson tomorrow, he asked how you were doing. Maybe he can help."  
"Whatever, it's fine. I just hope something good happens on Tuesday. Look you guys should go. The nurse looks pretty pissed off." He said, referring to the stern woman glaring at them from her office.  
"I'll come by tomorrow."  
"Keep icing it." Alex said while she hugged him.  
As the walked towards the back of the parking lot where Jay's car was Alex was mostly silent. The hard, fast steps of her heels were the only thing that told Jay what kind of mood she was in.  
"What did I do now?" Jay asked from a few paces behind her.  
"Nothing. You just pulled a classic Jay move."  
"What?" He said after catching up with her and blocking her way.  
"You told him to run? How fucking stupid could you be?" She pushed him out of the way and continued to walk.  
"Hey! Do you honestly think it would be any better right now had he stayed there and waited for the damn police to show up just to say yeah I hit this guy during an illegal street race. He'd still be in jail, Alex!"  
"Maybe not. The charges would not have been this high. The bail would probably have been lower and with some help we could have gotten him out of there by now. You never think, Jay! Him and Peter could've gotten the same verdict, maybe one or two nights in jail. But no, instead of just reckless driving, you helped him push it up to a felony hit and run along with reckless endangerment." She had reached the car, and Jay…had reached his breaking point. He cornered her against the passenger door, his face coming within inches of hers.  
"You need to stop blaming me for _everything_!"  
"It's usually your fault!"  
"Fuck you! Do you honestly think I like seeing my best friend in jail?"  
"Neither do I! But I don't want to see you in there either!"  
The both of them were breathing heavily, worn out from the screaming at the top of their lungs.  
"What are you talking about?" Jay asked her when he calmed down, his voice level also considerably lower.  
"You keep doing all this crap you're up to, and you're going end up in jail too. The scariest part is that you don't even see that." Alex too had calmed down, the whole ordeal had actually brought tears to her eyes. From seeing Sean the way he was and fighting with Jay, had taken her way beyond her limit. She supported herself against the car and sighed loudly. Jay slid one hand behind her back and pulled her into him.  
"I'm sorry."  
"Yeah you always are." She moved closer to embrace him. "I really don't want that to be you in there Jay."  
"It won't be." He whispered as she pulled away.  
"It might be. I just hope not. Especially since you'd probably get you ass kicked everyday because of your smartass mouth." She said with a smirk. He smiled and then sighed, kind of regretting having a happy moment while Sean was still sitting in jail.  
"So." He pulled the piece of paper out his pocket. "This hearing…shit." He said while his blue eyes skimmed over the writing. "I have to rework an engine Tuesday. And I swore to Troy I wouldn't skip out on him again. Damnit. It's at nine, can you make it?"  
"I have a test second period. I can't miss it but I can try to go by after."  
"I think anything will help at this point. He has no one in there."  
"I'll try. What are you going to say to Simpson?"  
Jay shrugged his shoulders and got in the car. He thought about it the entire night he and Alex spent sitting on the couch at her mom's place, only half way paying attention the movie Emily and Chad were watching. In exchange for a few dinners and things, Alex was allowed to be at Jay's apartment whenever she wanted. The young couple sat in a sad silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Sean fell asleep on the bed in the infirmary, tears falling down his cheeks into his hair, thinking about how much his life sucked at the moment. He wondered if he made a mistake in coming back, and forcing himself back into Emma's life.

Jay rapped his knuckles on the door and got his old teacher's attention.  
"Jayson Hogart in Degrassi. I'm sure there are some kinds of laws against that." He said, but still with a warm smile. Jay heard Alex's voice in his mind telling him to be civil, that Sean really needed his help.  
"Hi, Mr. Simpson. Really, I come in peace."  
"I know." He said while getting up from his desk. "How have you been holding up?" He came around and shook Jay's hand.  
"I'm fine. Sean on the other hand is not so good."  
"Have you seen him today?"  
"I'm heading over there after work."  
"Work. How times have changed. Let's walk this way." Jay rolled his eyes in frustration but let it go and walked through the foyer with him. This wasn't about him. "So how is he?"  
"Bad. He gets beat on a lot because he's younger. Honestly I know what he did, but it was an accident. He shouldn't be in there. Not if it's going to cost him this much."  
"That may be so. But even without this, he won't be allowed back at Degrassi. Once the charges are taken care of he might as well go back to Wasaga."  
"He won't do that. Besides he is not a drug dealer, that stuff was planted in his locker. Anyway that's not the point. His trial is tomorrow and I don't think anything good can come out of it." It was then that Jay saw Emma through the classroom window,  
"I understand. I'm going to see what I can do about going."  
"Thanks, Mr. S. I appreciate your concern, I'll pass it on to Sean." Simpson nodded and walked away, in his place came Emma.  
"Whatever you're here for we're not interested." Bitch…hott bitch.  
"I was just talking to your step dad about Sean. Remember him?"  
"I'm trying to forget."  
"Well someone's changed their tune. It seemed to me someone was pretty damn interested in Sean for a while." Jay smirked, knowing just how to push her buttons.  
"Excuse me what did he tell you?"  
"Nothing, he didn't have to. Look it was obvious there something was going on. Something that you didn't want your boyfriend to know about."  
"This conversation is over Jay." She walked away.  
"Like hell it is." Jay muttered to himself before catching up to her. "Speaking about your boyfriend, I heard he got off with a slap on the wrist."  
"Please, he's on major Hatzilakos lockdown plus community service." Jay rolled his eyes at her comment.  
"Poor baby, I really hope the leaf blower doesn't strain his back."  
"I'm really beginning to remember why I don't like you."  
"This isn't about me. It's about Sean. Okay he is in hell. Yesterday he got sent to the infirmary. Some dude jumped in the chow line." (Ridiculous badly written/hysterical line, if I do say so myself.)  
"Jumped him, why?" Her face finally expressing genuine concern.  
"Because…" Jay remembered that he hadn't actually knows the reason. "Because he didn't like Sean's face. It's jail, Emma, it ain't your boyfriend's country club. Just maybe you could go to his court hearing tomorrow. I have to work, but he could use a friend." He handed her the paper than left before his temper got the better of him.  
Jay then signed in at the jail and sat across the table from Sean.  
"It looks a lot better than it did yesterday."  
"Is she coming or not?" Sean asked, exasperated. Jay sighed.  
"I don't think so man. I'm sorry."  
"Don't be. It doesn't matter. If this works out tomorrow I should be getting out of here pretty soon." Jay nodded, but secretly thought that it might not be that easy.  
"So you okay, man?"  
"Yeah. A few juvie losers just transferred in so I'm officially no longer the new guy. But I really don't want to waste our hour talking about how much jail sucks. How have you been?"  
"And you don't think my life is waste of time?"  
"Jay, seriously I need the distraction. Bore me to death so I can take my mind of all of this crap." Jay sighed and laughed again.  
"What do you want me to say? Without you there it definitely sucks at work and the apartment is quiet. That's basically it."  
"Hey you have Alex, it shouldn't suck so much."  
"Uh, yeah. Alex."  
"What's up?" Jay shook his head.  
"I'm not really sure. It's been pretty weird between us lately. She's all like 'think about the future' and 'responsibility' crap and with everything that's been going on I just can't deal with it. Besides we're not…I don't know."  
"What?" Sean pressed for him to go on.  
"But it's just not the same without her. She makes me better." Sean nodded in agreement. "So is that what you think happens with you and Emma?" Sean stared blankly ahead, and still until he answered.  
"I know she is the one I want. I need her to want me, but as you can tell she doesn't."  
"What about Ellie?"  
"Ellie. I don't know. I mean yeah I loved her but then…she just isn't Emma. I know that makes me sound like an ass but that's just what happened. We've both grown up and gone our separate ways, and I turn around and see that Emma is still something I can make work. I just hope I'll get the chance to try."  
"Hey I really am not the guy to comment on being the ass of a relationship." Sean raised his eyebrows. "Or did you not hear about me cheating on Alex, hooking up with a dozen random girls, gonorrhea et cetera." Sean nodded with a smile. "And then Alex got back at me by turning gay or whatever."  
"But yet here you are living together?" Jay smiled.  
"Yeah, well. I'm one lucky son of a bitch."

Jay drove back to the apartment and found Alex sitting on the couch with a textbook in her lap.  
"Wow am I glad I'm not in school."  
"Shut up."  
"Someone's bitchy today." He said taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator.  
"Okay one: I'm always bitchy and two: you're the only one who even remotely gets away with insulting me."  
"Is it an insult if it's true?"  
"I'm not sure you disgusting, drop-out trailer park pig." She said, her head still buried on the page she was reading.  
"Ouch." He decided at the point to change the subject obviously she wasn't in a good mood. "So what are you doing?"  
"Just some dumb assignment." He sat down next to her.  
"And the dates Paige Michalchuk is on break have what to do with that?" He asked, pulling said piece of paper from her book. She snatched it back and glared at him.  
"Nothing."  
"Lexxi, just tell me. I mean I thought we were, ehem, 'at that point where we can tell each other everything'."  
"Bite me."  
"Oooh fighting words." He was enjoying seeing her squirm. "Tell me." She sighed and rolled her eyes.  
"Fine okay. What would you like me to tell you? She was my first girlfriend, she changed me more than I thought was possible and I miss her. Sue me." Jay nodded.  
"So you're still into her?"  
"I don't know…maybe." Jay nodded again. "Don't take this personally either, Jay. I mean our…thing, whatever is much different than with Paige."  
"Why, cause I have a p--"  
"No because you two are polar opposites. I just want to see her again, let her see how different I am. Besides _we_, don't even really exist remember?"  
"Okay, whatever."  
"Is that always your answer?" He smiled.  
"Whatever."  
"You're an ass. So how's Sean?"  
"Better. He's just hoping on a blonde bitch making things better for him."  
"Is that a really bad Paige reference?"  
"Whatever." She threw the textbook at him. "And you wonder why I call you a bitch?" She got up.  
"You wonder why I call you an asshole?" She asked before she picked her book up and sat back down, continuing the assignment.  
"Not really."  
"That was a rhetorical question, smart one."  
"Sorry I don't know what that big word means." He said while walking towards the bedroom. Alex rolled her eyes and wished that Jay wasn't so…himself. She had changed, why couldn't he, at least a little?

The next day happened the exact same way. Jay went to work, visited Sean and came home to see Alex on the couch again.  
"God what are you studying for now?"  
"You name it. Math, English whatever, I need to up my marks badly and if I do good enough I only stay half the year."  
"Oh right, I forgot, you want to go to university to be a psycho therapist."  
"Physiotherapist and yes I do, thank you very much." He rolled his eyes. "So the trial, how did it go?"  
"There's good news and there's bad news, or that's what he said. I see it's kind of like bad news and worse news." Alex closed the book and looked up at him. "His loser public defender didn't even make it there, no trial. Until there's a trial there won't be a sentence and he stays in jail."  
"And what's the other bad news?"  
"Well Emma went by and something about being there for him but she's still with Peter and he's all depressed about it now."  
"At least he has somebody besides us. And maybe she will help, I mean she is cause girl."  
"Maybe there's more to her than that." Jay said before grabbing his keys and hat.  
"Oh really, how would you know?"  
"I…don't. But Sean seems to think so. Anyway I'm heading to the races, are you coming?" Alex shook her head no.  
"I have to study."  
"It's official, you're a loser. Don't wait up." He shut the door behind him and left Alex to another lonely night of studying. A few hours later Alex's cell phone rang.  
"Yeah?"  
"Hey." It was Jay. "I'm on my way back but I left my keys in the kitchen, are you still there?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay, I should be there in an hour."  
"Alright, bye."  
"Wait. I wanted to ask you about something."  
"Uh huh?" Alex asked, stifling a yawn.  
"When is Paige coming back to town?" She realized his words were slurring slightly.  
"I don't know like two or three months from now. Why do you care?"  
"I figured you'd be counting down the days desperately. Guess I was wrong."  
"Yeah well obviously you're wrong about a lot of things. I'll see you when you get here, don't crash your car you drunk moron." She hung up and fell back into the couch. Seriously, when was he going to ever learn that his stupid actions have bad consequences?

A few days later Jay woke up to not find Alex in the apartment, and half of the things she had strewn around the apartment were either missing or neatly piled in a drawer. He asked her about it when she came over at noon.  
"I never used most of that stuff. I threw half of it out. The rest of it I was tired of seeing it sitting all over the place."  
"Are you sure it's not because you're moving out?" He asked groggily, but she knew he was upset about it.  
"I never moved in, Jay. I just made this my second home. Besides what do you care, I heard you were quite the ladies' man at the rave this weekend."  
"Yeah I guess. It was just a party, whatever." Alex rolled her eyes.  
"So are we going to see Sean today or what?"  
When Jay finally got up and dressed they drove down to the jail and saw Sean, who genuinely smiling.  
"What's your problem?" Jay asked of his happiness. He was hung over and everything was irritating the crap out of him.  
"Well for one. Emma broke up with Peter and we're…I don't know, something. And Snake got me a public defender who is actually good, so with any luck I'll be eating a double cheeseburger in the next two months."  
"That's…awesome." Jay said, trying to mask the sarcasm in his voice.  
So while Alex is slipping away from him, Sean gets Emma back.  
And while Sean is looking forward to basically everything, Jay has nothing.  
Well things have certainly turned around...

**((Okay, I tried. I was really going for a lead-up into _Working for the Weekend_ and _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_ at the same time. Which is difficult considering I haven't even seen the latter yet, but I can't wait. I loved tonight's episode, and I'm so stoked to start writing it. I'm sorry to disappoint by the way because this whole chapter I have Alex pulling away from Jay, but it really needs to happen if the story is gonna stay real to the show. As a side note I fell off a bus and sprained my ankle, which is very funny to me, so I've been with my laptop a lot. Thanks for everyone who liked the last chapter, I hope you know that what keeps a writer inspired is comments like those, and even if they aren't always positive, they usually always help. So I'm going to start writing WFTW immediately. Oh yeah and sorry to anyone who reads my other stories, I've been zoned out on those for a while now, but it isn't over till I say so, so don't give up on me. On that note, please REVIEW!))**


	4. Working For the Weekend

Chapter 4/Epsiode 6: Working For The Weekend

((Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or song they took the title from. All the quotes from the episode, I did not write.))

"Alex. It's kind of like four in the morning. And usually I'm not the one to complain but I have to work early tomorrow." Jay said while rubbing his eyes.  
"I'm studying." She said without looking up from her book. She was seated at the partially broken kitchen table surrounded by textbooks, notebooks and random pieces of paper.  
"Alex." He said still trying to get her attention. "Alex…" He sighed loudly, scrunched up the nearest piece of paper and threw it at Alex's head. Her reaction was faster than Jay thought and in half a second she had him in punching range.  
"I'd like to write this off as sleep deprivation but this is normal Alex."  
"What are you talking about?" She asked while loosening her grip on his shirt.  
"The minute anyone says one thing you're ready to throw punches but think about the kind of crap you do to people."  
"You mean you do."  
"Okay, good try, but I wasn't alone in my torturing Degrassi students." She sighed and went back to her books.  
"I'm a different person now, Jay."  
"Yeah well some of us haven't forgotten. I guess I miss that girl now." Alex was stunned for a minute.  
"Just go back to sleep Jay. I'm almost finished." He sauntered off towards the bedroom and Alex finally exhaled after she heard the door click shut.  
_Awkward_ was the only word Alex could think of. The last month and a half was much different from the summer, her and Jay's…whatever wasn't the same. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad change, it was just slowly but surely forming into something totally different.  
Jay stopped in front of Degrassi early in the morning. Alex unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her book bag.  
"Thanks for dropping me off. By the way I don't need a ride back later." She opened the car door and started to step out.  
"Oh right. Your girlfriend is in town."  
"Actually, no that isn't why and she isn't my girlfriend. And you need to stop acting this way because you are not my boyfriend." She slammed the passenger door and started walking towards the Degrassi entrance. As soon as he had driven away Alex sat down at a lunch table outside and started studying again. She was almost finished when four loudly obnoxious students came over and sat at the table next to hers.  
_God I hate giggly girls_ was the phrase that kept repeating while she tried to block their conversation out and focus on the outline she was writing in her notebook. She finally gave up and looked over at them  
Who eats carrots and why are they so giggly?  
"Zip it. I'm trying to study."  
"Trying to graduate before your turn thirty? Good luck." _Wow, she's even more obnoxious than I thought.  
_"A: I already graduated and B: Do I even know you?" That shut her up. Okay so 'The Industrial Revolution led to modern ideas and…carrot'  
"Unless you want these carrots to become part of your anatomy, I suggest you stop." Carrot baby just smirks in response. _What I wouldn't do to hit her right now…  
_That's when the girl threw the second carrot, hitting Alex's head. Just like a few hours before, she got up in the girl's face in record time, but Jay's stupid voice popped into her head. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her stuff. The bell inside rang for homeroom.  
"I'm officially too old for this." She muttered as she sprinted up the Degrassi steps.  
Alex finished all of her classes and instead of going back to the awkwardness that was the apartment she went to the library to finish up an assignment she had. At five o'clock, when she was sure Jay left for the races she went to her home away from home and fell asleep on the couch. She realized how intensely boring her life had become because of school, but then saw it as justified when she started at University next fall. Her cell phone vibrating on the coffee table woke her.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey hun!"  
"Paige, hey. How have you been?"  
"Amazing of course. But I'm in town and I do believe you promised me lunch?"  
"Sure."  
"Great. I'll see you at the Dot tomorrow, three o'clock?"  
"Yeah that's good."  
"Can't wait. Bye, hun."  
"Bye."  
Alex smiled to herself for a moment, remembering how things were with Paige. Then she immediately went back to studying for the math test she had the next day.  
The next day passed in a happy blur for Alex. She was confident going into her class and then she was meeting Paige immediately after school. Just as she turned in the test she had so strenuously studied for she smiled and walked out of the classroom, excited to be seeing Paige.  
"Alex Nunez, smiling after a test." Had it been a year ago, Alex would've rolled her eyes at Ms. H's comment. But instead she laughed.  
"Just happy. Kinda aced it."  
"Congratulations, I'm proud of you. It shows real maturity that you came back to up you marks, especially after your friends moved on."  
"Well you can't become a physiotherapist without a degree. Which means I gotta up my marks if I wanna get accepted anywhere." Hatzilakos nodded. "So," Alex said with a smile. "Gotta run." She started to walk away, praying that it would be the end of the conversation.  
"You know what would really help with university applications?" Alex shut here eyes. She had been dreading these words. She turned around.  
"Extracurriculars?"  
"Hmm, which you don't have." Alex sighed.  
"I knew this was going somewhere."  
"Look, I need girls for lacrosse. And I'm so low on players I might even have to cancel the team."  
"A tragedy of global proportions." Came her answer, dripping in sarcasm.  
"Alex, you love lacrosse. I remember from gym class, you're natural."  
"I am fond of bashing people with a large stick." Ms. H giggled in her annoying way.  
"So, you'll think about it?"  
"Me and team sports?" Alex shook her head. "Sorry, not a whole lot to think about Ms. H.

And the awkwardness continues, Alex thought as she sat down on the stool next to Paige.  
"Hey!" Paige reached over and hugged her tightly, taking Alex's mind back to a not so forgotten past. "I got you cocoa with whipped cream." They shared a smile, remembering that time at the mall.  
"Just as long as there is no spoon slipping, thanks."  
"No prob. I was so stoked to see you again."  
"Yeah totally, same here." She stirred her spoon in the mug and decided she should start by asking about Paige, since she usually was the center of attention. She cleared her throat. "So here you are, back from the magical university land of Banting. Which I assume is going…?"  
"Hm." She said while swallowing in the sip she had just taken. "Better than perf. But…" Paige surprised her then. "What about you? Are you seeing anyone? Is she cute, do I know her? I want _all_ the juicy details."  
"Sorry can't help you. I'm the queen of boring single lame land." It was mostly true. She just might've forgotten to mention sort of living with Jay. Firstly because not only is he a guy, he is a guy that Paige hated. And also because she had no idea where her and Jay stood at that moment. So why bother bringing it up? "Degrassi is all I got going on." She added before Paige harped on her feeling sorry for herself.  
"Well I bet you must be running that place. Are all the kiddies running scared?" She thought about carrot girl, and obviously not.  
"Actually they're shaking at my terrifyingly good study habits." Alex responded with a satisfied smile. "Apparently I'm also a natural lacrosse player. Ms. H wants me to join the team." They both rolled their eyes at the same time.  
"My oh my, _you_ on a sports team."  
"Ain't gonna happen. Lacrosse is for losers."  
"Yeah, there's the bitter girl that I know." The hit a nerve with Alex. So Paige didn't really see that she changing either?  
"The bitter loner you _used_ to know, is trying to be a little sweeter these days."  
"Well sweetie, a tiger can't change its strips overnight."  
Ouch, Alex thought.  
They hung out for a few more hours, talking about everything. Alex was very glad for seeing Paige and also sad to see her go. At the end of the night Jay swung by the Dot for his own dinner, and Alex decided to go back with him.  
"So, how did it go?"  
"Fine."  
"Did you guys make out?"  
"Jay." She warned. She was tired and irritated. "No, we're just friends."  
"That's what you said about us this summer."  
"Whatever just shut it."  
"What's wrong?"  
"I don't know. Everything, nothing."  
"Whatever. Oh yeah I forgot, I got a new job. A legal one this time, in an actual garage. And Sean should be getting out in a month or so."  
"That's great, Jay." She said unenthusiastically then sighed loudly. "I think I'm going to join the lacrosse team." Jay missed a stop sign and swerved into the road instead.  
"I'm sorry, did I just hear that right?"  
"I mean extracurricular activities make university apps look good and it's not like I do anything else after school."  
"Yeah not since you ditched me."  
"Forgive me for not wanting to be arrested for no reason. I'm not abandoning anyone."  
"But lacrosse, Lex? Playing on a team, with like people?"  
"You're making it sound like I'm the flesh-eating monster."  
"When you're in competitive mode, you're _worse_." Alex rolled her eyes.  
When someone had doubts in her, it made her want to prove them wrong. So the next morning she went to Ms. H, told her she would join the team, and was told to show up in the gym at Saturday morning at noon.

"Ah, here's our ringer." Alex heard Ms. H say as she came out of the locker room. And to her dismay, she saw that carrot girl, and one of her equally giggly friends were on the team. "So you ready to help out the team?"  
"There's nothing I love more than giving up my weekend for the _team_."  
Ms. H introduced Alex, but she was more concentrated on baby carrots, and her look of complete hatred when she saw Alex. _Yeah, I'm just dying to be nice to you too…  
_"Yeah, can't get enough of this place."  
"…Stayed focused guys." Alex walked over to her current arch enemy.  
"Hey baby carrots, looks like we're teammates."  
"Yeah, doesn't mean I have to talk to you." Bitch…  
Anyway the practice went pretty well, and like she promised baby carrot girl stayed far away from Alex. Afterwards she went home, took a shower and slept, feeling happily exhausted, the way you do when you know you've accomplished something. She hadn't even realized how much she liked lacrosse until she started practicing again. The next day was their game against Lakhurst. Alex was pumped and ready. But as the game went on she noticed a pattern. Baby carrots or Sirina, and her little friends never passed to her. _Well in that case_, she thought as she pushed passed Sirina, stole the ball and rushed the goalie. It ended up being the winning goal and everyone cheered for Alex, except for her. As she got changed she honestly wondered what the hell her problem was. As she was leaving the locker room, Mrs. H pulled her aside.  
"What was all of that?"  
"Ask her. She shoved me first."  
"I don't care who did anything first. You're teammates, school mates. You need to get along if you want to stay on the team. Okay?"  
"Yeah okay." Alex grabbed her stuff and chased down her teammate in the foyer.

"Sirina!" She ran to catch up with her.  
"So, you finally remembered my name."  
"Ms. Hatzilakos told me. She also told me that you and I have to get along. So…" Alex rolled her eyes. "Go team, go?" The girl's response was to roll her eyes and walk away. _Ugh, what is with this girl?_ "I'm trying to be nice here!"  
"Please. You know you're not fooling anyone. You're a hateful bitch, Alex. It's all you're ever gonna be." _What the fuck?  
_Of course, nobody could get away with saying that so Alex shoved her.  
"Alex!" Came Ms. H's voice. "My office. Now!" _Shit, thanks a lot.  
_Alex sat heavily in the chair, throwing her huge practice bag to the floor.  
"I really don't understand you."  
"Look, I'm sorry I pushed her. But she isn't being welcoming to me when all I'm trying to do is be nice."  
"But control it. I know it's hard, but you can't start swinging every time someone says something."  
"Even when it's unnecessarily mean and untrue?" Ms. H raised her eyebrows.  
"Should you really be preaching to anyone about that?" Ms. H sighed. "I hate to do this but I'm going to have to give a week's detention."  
"What?"  
"Yes. And you still have to make 6 pm practices." Alex sighed. This is exactly why she had graduated, and now somehow she was back in detention. "And…"  
"I'll apologize."  
"Good." Alex started to leave and then noticed the plastic baggie on her desk.  
"Do you think I could have those?"

Just as she hoped she would she found Sirina on the front steps of Degrassi, most of the crowd having cleared out. She had to wait for Jay so she came to stand next to her and held out the plastic bag of baby sized carrots.  
"They're not poisoned." She said putting on her sweetest voice. "And they make great projectiles." Alex sighed. "I got a week's worth detention. That should make you happy."  
Sirina rolled her eyes and turned toward her.  
"You really don't remember do you?"  
"Am I in the twilight zone? No, I don't know you Sirina."  
"Two years ago you almost blinded me with a laser pointer during my first and last debate. Or…how about when you tripped me on the way to the café. I sprained my ankle and I had to quit the team." _Oh, shit.  
_"It wasn't personal, you could've been anybody." She tried explaining. It didn't sound good though.  
"But it was me. A real person. You made my life hell, and the worst part? You don't even remember doing it." She walked towards a minivan that drove into the parking lot, leaving Alex there stunned. Jay came by barely a minute later, but Alex just stood there, still staring into space. He got out of the car and ran over to her.  
"Whoa, woahh. I heard you guys won. What's wrong?"  
"I am a horrible person."  
"What?"  
"This girl on my team, I sprained her ankle and practically blinded her and then I didn't even know who she was. I mean how many fucking people did I do that to?"  
"You really want me to answer that?"  
"No. God, why? I didn't have any reason for it, just all the time. I physically and emotionally hurt people just because I felt like it?"  
"But you're a different person now, right?"  
"But that doesn't make it okay. Not for those people who remember me as the bitch who broke their arm or something. Oh my god and then the whole thing with Rick…"  
"Hey, that was not your fault. I basically forced you to do it."  
"But why did I listen? What the hell was going on in my mind?"  
"I don't know." He answered.  
"I don't either."  
…  
**((So that's basically it. I don't know if the crying is a bit much, but it did look like her eyes were tearing. Sorry to everyone cause I've been very hyper Alex lately. The next chapter is about Jay. OMMMG, a crazy little thing called love amazing episode. I'm starting to write it right this very moment. Yeah so review!!!))**


	5. A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

**Chapter 5/Epsiode 7: A Crazy Little Thing Called Love **

((Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or song they took the title from. All the quotes from the episode, I did not write. But I do own the made up characters. Italics tend to be Jay's thoughts.))  
  
**((a/n: OMG! This episode was amazing, and even though I am anti-semma, I loved it; I love the complexities of their relationship and the picture from 7th grade was so adorkable. I'm so sad we have to wait till January for new ones. Anyway, here it goes. Hope I don't assassinate a good episode.))**

((12/9/06- OMG, I thought I had already posted this, but then I remembered that the day I finished it the site was glitching and stuff. But I finished this ages ago and I'm so upset that I forgot to post it. Sorry to keep you all waiting. This officially starts the hiatus, because Degrassi is on hiatus till 2007 :-, cannot wait. See you all then))

_  
_The second Jay opened his eyes to the blinding light of the morning, he instantly regretted it. He couldn't remember what happened the night before but he was vaguely aware that he was in his own bed and someone was in the room with him.  
"Lexxi?" He asked without opening his eyes. She usually got up before he did. He then heard the unmistakable sound of jeans being pulled on and zippered.  
"Who's Lexxi?" A female voice answered him. Jay got up quickly and turned to see who had responded. A tall, skinny blonde stood before him, pulling a shirt over her head. He knew that he knew her, just not from where. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Livvie?" The realization struck him. Olivia Wentz- red mini-copper, battery and break pad replacement. Of course, relationships with the customers were prohibited, but since when did Jay ever listen to rules?  
"Right sorry. Everything is just a little foggy."  
"I'm not surprised. You had quite a few last night." She sat down on the bed and slipped on her heels. "So uh, my dad is gonna come by later to get my car." She stood and grabbed her purse. "And hey, I'll make you a deal. You don't tell him and I won't tell 'Lexxi'." Jay smiled despite himself.  
"Scouts honor." He said groggily. Livvie giggled.  
"Yeah like you were ever a boy scout." She crossed over to his side of the bed, and kissed him lightly. "See you, JJ."  
Just when he got back into a comfortable condition his cell phone vibrated on the bedside table.  
"Yeah?" He answered.  
"Do you know what today is?" An all too familiar voice said loudly.  
"Um Sunday?"  
"Yeah, a.k.a. the day of your morning shift. Where the hell are you?"  
"Sorry, Tony, I forgot."  
"Well get here a.s.a.p.. Mr. Wentz will be here at nine sharp and you need to do an oil change."  
"Okay."  
"And while I actually have your attention, when did you say your friend was coming in for an interview?" _What?_  
"Oh um." _SUNDAY! Sunday, the 19th, Sean gets out of jail. _"Oh yeah. I gotta call him but he should be there tomorrow."  
"Well good cause I just had to fire Mike. Now get your ass here before the same thing happens to you."  
Jay drank two aspirin, got dressed and headed down to Tony's Auto Repair Shop. He had had this job for over a month now, but he had known Tony for much longer. It paid okay, and whatever else he needed Jay got from racing once a week. On his break he went into the office and called Sean.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey jailbird."  
"Jay, man. Well, I'm free now. I mean besides the probation."  
"That blows. Where are you?"  
"At the Dot. I told you I've been craving a bacon-double cheeseburger forever."  
"Right well Tony said you can come by and talk about a mechanic job tomorrow. And I'm pretty sure you're gonna get it. Not only did I tell him you're a good with cars, but we're low on guys right now."  
"Okay, good. See you then." Just as he hung up his phone rang.  
"Yeah?" He assumed Sean was calling him back.  
"Who answers the phone with yeah?" _Alex…_  
"Sorry, hello." Jay said sarcastically.  
"Hi. So what's her name?"  
"Um, who?"  
"The blonde girl who used my hairbrush this morning." _Oops. She's probably really pissed. _"Jay, I'm not mad."  
"What are you a mind reader?"  
"No, I just know you. And really I'm not mad about the girl. I'm just mad that she used my hairbrush." Jay breathed a sign of relief. "So are you at work or what?"  
"Yeah, but I'm on break. What are you doing?"  
"I have second period free and I forgot my book at the apartment. But now I have to rush back. I'll talk to you later."  
"Yeah."  
"Bye."  
Jay actually didn't see Alex or anyone else that day. He worked twelve straight hours repairing and patching an engine. That night he went straight back to the apartment and passed out. He was working the morning shift again that Monday, so he got up, showered and got into his car. He picked up Sean at Emma's house and then drove to work. Jay then pretended not to listen to the interview Tony was giving Sean. He smiled when Tony threw Sean keys and a jumpsuit.  
"I got it man!"  
"What'd I tell ya?"  
The two of them worked on the Lexus until the ac was working, but then they found out it still needed oil and a new wax coat.  
"Yeah we'll just finish it tomorrow, cause we gotta close up in ten minutes."  
"The wax is gonna take more than one day though." Sean told him while unzipping his jumpsuit.  
"Yeah. I'll call Mr. Laine now." Jay said, disappearing into the office. When he came back he saw Emma standing next to Sean. _Perfect…  
_"And a big shout out to Jay, who totally went to the max for his bud. Huh?" He pulled both of them under each arm. "My best friend and my girlfriend, the only two people I can count on." Jay couldn't help but push Emma's buttons.  
"Girlfriend, wow. I guess not even jail time couldn't keep you two lovebird apart, huh?" Emma glared at him. Sean on the other hand was oblivious.  
"We should all hang out, huh? Catch up on old times?" Jay smiled wickedly.  
"Yeah Sean's not caught up on old times." Emma gave him the dirtiest look she could muster up.  
"Old times are overrated." Jay nodded and smiled.  
"Alright…well I'm all done here. Why don't I take my girl out for dinner?"  
"Go, have fun. I'll lock up." Jay let out his held breath. "Awkward." He said to himself while closing all the doors and locking the office.  
The next day was pretty much exactly the same. Jay and Sean got stuck with the morning shift. They moved the Lexus onto the crane to check out the tires and undercarriage.  
"Hey, last night I thought Emma was dropping hints." _Shit…_ "Did something happen?" Jay fiddled with the rag in his hand, like he always did when he was nervous.  
"No, it was probably nothing." Jay stared down into the blackness of the engine, well anywhere but at Sean.  
"If there was something you'd tell me right?"  
"No, forget it, you're not hearing it from me." Sean moved even closer.  
"Jay, c'mon, after everything I've been through. I can handle it." Jay sighed and rolled his eyes. He honestly hoped Sean could handle it, or he was dead where he stood.  
"Fine…but I warned you." Sean nodded. "Alright, while you where gone, Emma and I…kinda fooled around." Jay watched Sean's mouth drop open.  
"You had sex."  
"_No_, no, no, no." _ I wish_. "I mean, not really, it depends how you look at it. I had more than she did."

"I can't believe this,_ you_ and Emma, "  
"Dude, don't overreact. Look, you had just broken up with Ellie. You and Emma hadn't been a thing for like years. It just kind of happened. Once." _Almost twice… _At that point Jay knew Sean was fuming. "You said you could take it."  
"Just shut up, okay?" _No, I will not just shut up. I didn't even want to tell you. _"Shut up."  
"Man, I'm sorry."  
"I said shut up." He said harshly, and then walked out. Jay turned around and saw Tony behind him. He shrugged his shoulders and went into the office for his break. After half an hour, Jay came back out and Sean was back. _Fan-fucking-tastic._  
"I take it we're not cool?"   
"Don't talk to me." Tony choose that moment to come over.  
"Jay, get on the Lexus. Mr. Laine is my best customer." _Remind me to thank you, Tone. _Jay ambled on over to underneath the car next to Sean,  
"Wanna hand me that ratchet?"  
"Get it yourself."  
"Look it was over a year ago man, let it go."  
"No, I'm not gonna let it go. Alright? You took something that was good _ruined_ it. Just like you _always do._" _You are pissing me off Sean, just drop this._  
"Right, right. Make me the bad guy. Alright. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Jay walked away, he was not going to start a fight over this. But then Sean followed him.  
"You didn't care about Emma, You used her, and you took advantage over her."  
"I didn't take advantage of anyone. The truth is, she chased me dude." He saw the rage in Sean's eyes, but now he was angry too. "She damn near begged me to let her do it." Well he wasn't exactly lying. Sean threw himself at him, but Jay was on guard ever since it started. After Sean punched the wall, he calmed himself down. Jay rolled his eyes.  
"Whatever." He muttered as he left his former best friend to cool off. He worked with another mechanic on a different car and came back yet another hour later. Mr. Laine was talking to Sean, and Sean had the 'let's throw some punches' look in his eyes. When he started advancing Jay came forward and pushed Sean back.  
"Hey, Sean. Back off." Mr. Laine looked at Jay expectantly. "Look, I'm sorry sir. His problem is with me." The materials on the cart next to him flew everywhere as Sean kicked it over.  
"Tell Tony I quit." Sean said over his shoulder.  
"I'm sorry about that. Anyway, we both worked on your car. Trust me that the tires are fine, we checked the pressure a few times and the ac is fully functional."  
"Thank you. I'll go see Tony about the bill."  
"He's out front. I'll have the guys pull your car off the blocks, so you can get out of here."  
"Yeah." He said while going to find Tony. It was one hell of an eventful day that was for damn sure.  
He worked three other cars that day, getting paid nicely for the commission. And even though it had only been two days, he missed Sean being there and them talking about things. If he had to guess he'd say that Sean was on a bus halfway to nowhere right about now. At the end of his shift he went outside and Alex was sitting on the hood of his car.  
"Hey." He said, getting her attention.  
"Hey, why do you look so surprised? I told you we were grabbing dinner right?"  
"Oh yeah, that. Yeah of course, Lex. Sorry it's just been an extremely long and crappy day." Alex smiled as Jay came over and hugged her.  
"Tell me about it. So…where's Sean?"  
"Far away from me with a bruised hand."  
"Do I even want to know?"  
"I don't think so. And besides, I don't even want to think about it anymore."  
"Okay, then you don't have to. Let's just go grab something to eat."  
"You up for some drive-thru though? I kinda want to go back to the apartment, relax."  
"Sure."


	6. Rock This Town

**Chapter 6/Epsiode 11: Rock This Town **

**((Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or song they took the title from. All the quotes from the episode, I did not write. And I could care less about Courtney))**

Before she had even reached the door Alex heard the thundering of a rock song playing inside the apartment. She reluctantly opened the door and switched on the lights, startling the five occupants of the room. There were two girls, one she recognized as a regular ravine skank and the other a racer from Woodbridge. Both of them were straddled over a guy's lap. Alex was happy to notice that neither of the guys was Jay. It was enough that she knew he was hooking up with random girls, she did not want to see it. The third guy in the room was staring intently at his shoes, probably tripping on some kind of hallucinogen.  
Instead of being the slightest bit surprised Alex rolled her eyes at the scene in front of her and stepped over a huge pile of beer cans to turn off the stereo.  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Jay's right hand."  
"Ha-Ha." Alex tutted sarcastically while putting her lacrosse equipment down on the table. "Nice to see you again Aaron. Oh and of course you Courtney." She was referring to the fake blonde in Aaron's lap. "Still going down on other people's boyfriends I see." The girl glared at her but Alex could care less.  
"So you're still a bitch?" Aaron retorted for his bimbo.  
"Always and forever." Alex responded with the biggest smile she could muster. "Where is he?"  
"Probably in the bathroom puking his brains out. He was really messed up last time we saw him."  
"Sounds precious. But messed up is what you'll be if you're not out of here in the next sixty seconds."  
"Whatever you say, _Mrs. Hogart._"  
Alex rolled her eyes and followed the hallway down to the bathroom. Pushing open the door revealed a semi-familiar sight. Jay was leaned over the toilet.  
"Hm. Very attractive." Alex commented with a smirk. Jay would have responded but a fresh wave of nausea had come over him and he once again buried his face into the toilet and threw up the remaining alcohol in his system. Alex leaned against the doorframe and waited for Jay to stop gagging. "This is what happens when you drink…without me." The last part made Jay half smile. He got shakily to his feet and immediately brushed his teeth, washing out any remaining…anything.  
"Sorry Lex. I know you don't exactly enjoy seeing me this way."  
"Hey it's either you or my mom. I'm used to it."  
"I'm never drinking again." Jay said half-heartedly. Alex laughed.  
"You said that last night." She stood staring at him for a minute. "I think the groupies are gone. C'mon I'll get you some aspirin and coffee." He slowly followed her back to the kitchen, holding onto the walls to keep the room from spinning. Once each of them held a hot cup of coffee they sat down at the old table together.  
"Hey you're right, every time we party together I never end up with my head in the toilet."  
"What a coincidence."  
"No definitely not. You're my good influence."  
"The good influence you need is one who'll get you to stop partying and drinking altogether, and I doubt that will ever be me."  
"Hey, we haven't raised hell together in ages. School and lacrosse has made you a good girl." Alex rolled her eyes.  
"Fine, I'll make you a deal. The very next big party I'll come with, if you promise not to get completely hammered."  
"Only if you promise to have a few drinks yourself." Alex sighed and paused a moment.  
"Fine, whatever."  
"And I get a free dance."  
"What am I a stripper?"  
"I have no objections to that." Alex glared at him and he smiled back. "You need to loosen up Lex. Deal?"  
"Deal."

As it happened they didn't have to wait long for the next party to commence. Alex was in the final period of the day, math, when her phone vibrated. She opened it to see a text message from Jay. It said "A deal's a deal-Spin just texted me, huge party 2nit. P.S.: New part of our lil deal, u have 2 dance w/ a complete loser of my choosing."  
Alex rolled her eyes. Where did Jay come up with these things? She pulled the cell phone under the desk. "You're on." She typed back just as the bell sounded. Thankfully Fridays were lacrosse free days, unless they had a game the next day. Alex grabbed her bag and headed out the doors. Just as she expected Jay's car was parked at the front steps, and she got in.  
"You do realize you just agreed to dance with anyone I choose."  
"Yup."  
"I think you're going to regret saying that."  
"I think we're gonna have a good time." Alex said with a smile.  
It took a while for Jay to find his fake ID in the mess that had become his apartment, then he had to wait for Alex to get dressed. Once that drama was finished it was already dark outside. They then bought enough beer cans to quench a city and started driving to the party.  
"You're kidding me? Emma Nelson's house. That's where we're going?"  
"Look, don't ask me how but that's where the party is. Anybody who has a life will be there."  
"Okay but if I'm doing all the conditions I've agreed to then you're only allowed to drink two beers tops."  
"That's not even enough to buzz me."  
"That was the deal." Jay sighed, slightly exasperated.  
"Okay. You'll do all my drinking for me." He said with a smirk. Alex smiled back at him. He parked his car near the door and started to get out.  
"Please tell me you're not gonna make a big entrance, like you always do," He came around to the passenger side and grabbed a case of beer from her lap.  
"I dare not disappoint my fans." Alex scoffed at this and followed Jay to the door. At least things would be interesting.  
When they came into the house they found the party had already started.  
"Lock up the family jewels, let's rock this joint!" Jay said loudly as he walked through the door. Alex couldn't help but smile and simply followed him.  
"Jay what are you doing here?" Emma said sounding stressed. "Who even told you about this party?"  
"Word's out on the street, polka dot." He responded, eyeing her dress. He said hi to Sean then put the beers down on the kitchen counter.  
He grabbed a can out of the pack and poured half of it into a cup. He took a big gulp then handed it to Alex.  
"Round One, babe." She smirked, took the cup and downed what was left in it. He gladly emptied the rest of the can into her cup.  
"Jay, man." Spinner came behind them. Jay handed him his own beer. "Glad you could make it."  
"You know me, never miss a party." He said to Spinner, but looked at Alex. Spinner nodded then walked away to talk to Marco.  
"So. Decide which loser I'm gonna dance with yet?"  
"I'm thinking about it." He said while refilling her cup again. "That's two already, easy there tiger."  
"Tiger?"  
"Never mind that, I think I just found your new boyfriend." He said as he saw Toby walk by.  
"Look more carefully, _tiger_." At Toby's heels was a girl. She was holding desperately to his not broken hand and he was leading her away.  
"Damn." He took her cup, chugged the rest of it down then placed it on the table. "I think I'll redeem my one free dance card now."  
_Rock, Rock, Bring it on top. Bring it on back, let's stand and rock._ (Well that's what I hear from the lyrics. I really like this song, if anyone knows what it is, please tell me.)  
They joined the giant orgy (That's what I always call it. That huge pack of people practically on top of each other on the dance floor. Orgy sounds accurate.) in the middle of the living room and started jumping up and down just as the chorus came on.  
_Get low, now bring it like that to the floor, you'll break your back. You know we drop it hot. You know we drop it hot. Get low now bring it like that to the floor…  
_Once the insanity of the song was over people started fanning out to sit down or get drinks. Alex difficultly made her way towards the kitchen with Jay attempting to follow. That was when she passed by the disastrous D's.  
"How bout we go for a drive some time?" The one with the bigger hair said to her. (Seriously I hate Danny, he annoys the crap out of me.) Alex practically snorted.  
"Pee-Wee, do you even have a license?"  
"Yeahh, idiot license!" The second one yelled after her. (I love Derek, I think he's adorable.)  
Jay heard it and smiled.  
"You like her?" He asked Derek.  
"Hell yeah!" Then the smile disappeared from his face. "I-I mean, if she's your girlfriend-no."  
"Relax, man. What would you say if I got her to dance with you?" Jay smiled as Derek's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Stay here." Jay said before he struggled to find Alex.  
"Guess what?" He told her when he found her with a new cup in hand.  
"You're pregnant?" Alex responded, the alcohol having it's way.  
"No. You're gonna make this kid's dreams come true. C'mon." He lead her back to where Danny and Derek were standing, still kind of shocked in disbelief. When Alex saw Jay's choice, she glared daggers at him. And had these been normal circumstances, she never would have agreed. But the three and a half beers in her system said why not, so she did, she danced with Derek. Well if you'd like to call it dancing. It was more of him standing there, hardly believing what was happening. And Alex's dancing skills were so akin to that of a stripper's that everyone in the room was watching. Once the song was over Alex retreated back to the kitchen and Derek wandered over to where Spinner and Jay were standing with stars in his eyes.  
"That was AWESOME." Jay looked at Spinner and they both laughed.  
"That's just one of the reasons I love her." Jay said while relaxing against the wall. He was surprised that it actually felt good to not be completed wasted. Alex came back over to him.  
"Your turn." He raised his eyebrows at her. "You dance with someone."  
"That was not part of the deal." She shrugged and he sighed. "Whatever, who." Alex pointed at a random girl who was dancing by herself. "Fine. But by the time the song is over you'll be done with this can." He handed her his can and went over to dance with the girl. Both of them succeeded.  
"Feelin' okay?" He asked her. If he had counted correctly, that was the 5th can she had finished.  
"Great." She said, but her eyes were bloodshot and she was extremely giggly.  
Two Lakehurst guys came over to talk to Derek, who just happened to be standing next to Jay, Spinner and Alex. Without warning the beer can exploded on everyone in the area. The two guys were laughing as if it were the funniest thing they had ever seen. Jay and Spinner locked eyes at the same time and grabbed both of them.  
"You know what that means?" Jay said pushing the blonde one roughly into the stairs. "Buh-bye!"  
"Hey relax Slim Shady, it's a party."  
"And now it's time to go." Spinner said. They easily threw the two out the back doors.

Jay went to the bathroom. He took off his hat and splashed water on his face to get the foam out of his eyes. When he was drying his face he saw that Alex had come in after him.  
"I should've punched him." He told her. Alex rolled her eyes.  
"I thought it was pretty funny." He turned around and walked toward her.  
"Funny that he got beer all over you?" Alex smiled.  
"No. Funny that he called you Slim Shady."  
"I don't look like Eminem, do I?"  
"Uh no. First of all your hair," She playfully tousled his hair. "Is light brown."  
Alex swayed slightly and Jay moved quickly to grab her before she fell.  
"Is it time to puke yet?" He said laughing. "How many?"  
"Six." Alex said while holding up eight fingers. She fell forward into him.  
"Well…" He sat her down on the edge of the bathtub. "When you do need to puke, the toilet is right there."  
"Wanna know a secret?" Alex whispered softly. Jay squatted down so he was eyelevel with her.  
"Okay?"  
"…You have really nice eyes. Very…blue." Jay laughed and rolled his eyes.  
"Yep. I was right, you're completely trashed."  
"Not yet. I've yet to see double."  
"That might be true…but it seems to be very difficult for you to keep balanced." He said while grabbing her shoulders as she was leaning back into the shower.

Then all of a sudden the dull roar of the stereo died down and many pairs of feet were moving outside. There were screams and sirens and absolute madness.  
"C'mon." Jay said while supporting Alex. Whatever had happened did not sound good. They came out of the bathroom to find the house practically empty, the last few people headed out the door.  
"Spinner!" Jay yelled, getting his attention. "What the hell is going on?"  
"One of those kids, had a knife. They just took J.T. to the hospital."  
"What?" Alex though still being supported by Jay, was slightly more alert than she had just been. "They stabbed J.T.?" Spinner nodded then followed Marco out. Their eyes connected, each with horrified looks on their faces.

**  
(January 26, 2007  
Words cannot describe…we will all miss J.T.  
Please review…)**


	7. The Bitterest Pill

Chapter 7/Epsiode 12: The Bitterest Pill 

((Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or song they took the title from or the other song in the episode. All the quotes from the episode, I did not write.))

((I'd also like to mention that mostly the reason for my ratings are because I swear like a sailor and usually so do the characters. But there is sort of a semi-mature scene towards the end of this, not even. It just insinuates. It's also kind of song-fic, because I'm in the mood and need some stuff to fill the space. And I really like the song.))

**((2-18-07  
I apologize in advance for  
****a. The shortness of this chapter. The episode was about Liberty/Toby/Ellie/Jesse. Alex was on screen twice, no lines. So it is very difficult to write for her.  
b. The fact that it has been weeks since this episode aired and I promised that this would be up right after the airing. I got lazy last week and this week hasn't been much better. I'm sorry to everyone who was waiting and thanks again for the people who messaged me to see what's up. Anyway, please enjoy it.))**

Alex's scream filled the small room.  
It took a minute for her to realize that she had bolted upright on the couch at the apartment.  
The streetlight filled the living area with a dim eerie light.  
A hand touched her bare shoulder and she screamed again.  
"Woah, Lex it's me, it's just me." Alex turned to see Jay sitting on the couch next to her. She exhaled and closed her eyes.  
"I had a dream a clown was trying to kill me with a plastic screwdriver"  
"That might be an effect of the hangover commencement." She leaned back into Jay's chest and relaxed. He responded by wrapping his arms over hers.  
"I didn't drink that much, because I remember most of the night." Alex paused and took a deep breath. "Tell me I dreamed J.T. getting stabbed too?"  
"I wish I could." Jay said very softly. Alex closed her eyes to stop the hot tears from rushing to her face. She remembered it like it was a movie being played on a broken projector. There was flashing lights and screams and people running but her mind saw it all like puzzle pieces, nothing quite fit.  
"Do you know what happened?"  
"Those idiots from Lakehurst cornered him outside the house, stabbed him and then took off. Damn cowards." He said his words bitter and harsh. He wasn't exactly friends with J.T., they hadn't even spoken since the time in the ravine, but anyone who can stab someone and walk away from it was not ok in his book.  
"Have you heard anything about J.T.?" He shook his head no. Alex sighed. "I heard rumors at school. Something about a war between the two schools, I thought it was just stupid kid stuff."  
"It was. Some psycho just took it to the next level."  
"It sucks." Jay gave a grunt of agreement, too exhausted to speak again. He had worked long shifts that entire week. And he couldn't sleep without knowing Alex was okay so he instead he had watched her toss and turn. They both fell asleep just like that until Alex's phone rang on the table. She avoided opening her eyes so she answered the call with difficultly.  
"Hello?"  
Jay felt her body tense against his as she talked on the phone. "Oh my god…" Just as he put his hands on her shoulders he felt her start to shake and he knew she was crying. That could only mean one thing. "Yeah. What time?" Alex stood and went into the kitchen. She came back out writing on a napkin. "Right. Thanks for calling…bye." She put the paper and phone on the table and sat down heavily next to Jay. His eyes quickly skimmed the napkin "Joyce Funeral Home: 2-5". He was right, J.T. had died.  
He slid over and held her as she stray tears fell down her face.  
"It's so…wrong. He didn't even get to graduate."  
'Life is random that way." He looked back at the paper. "So you're going?" She nodded.  
Jay was about to speak again when his own phone rang. He picked it up with sigh.  
"Yeah, I know. Look I---." He sighed again. "Yeah I'll be there in ten minutes."  
"I'd go with you Lex. But that was Tony and I--." Jay started to explain. Alex shook her head and half smiled.  
"Don't worry about it. Ellie and Marco will be there. You'd better get going."  
"Yeah…" He smiled and grabbed his keys. "I promise I'll make it up to you."  
"I seriously doubt that." Alex said and rolled her eyes. She watched him leave and then went to the bathroom. She flipped on the radio in the shower and turned on the water.  
--Welcome to the commercial free noon hour. Here's the first. It's Garbage with 'Why Do You Love Me'--

Alex got in the shower and let the water run over her, ignoring the pounding headache that was starting as the aftermath of the night before._  
I'm no Barbie doll, I'm not your baby girl. I've done ugly things and I have made mistakes…  
And I am not as pretty as those girls in magazines. I am rotten to my core if they're to be believed  
So what if I'm no baby bird hanging upon your every word. Well nothing ever smells of roses that rises out of mud…  
_Alex scrubbed the strawberry-scented shampoo through her hair, trying to sort out the jumbled memories of the previous night. Bits and pieces, noises and smells. The bathroom, what had happened in the bathroom?  
_Why do you love me, why do you love me, why do you love me? It's driving me crazy! _(x3)  
Had her and Jay…she didn't remember. She knew he'd never do anything if he thought she'd regret it. She trusted him and he…he loved her too much. He loved her.  
_Why do you love me? Why do you love me?!  
_Why did he love her? He could have anyone. She wasn't anything special, and she was no angel. But then again, neither was he. Why did she love him? After everything he had put her through, why?  
_You're not some little boy, why you acting so surprised? You're sick of all the rules. Well I'm sick of all the lies!_

How did she keep forgiving him? This most recent time, why? How did she end up…HERE, in his apartment. And how many times before? She guessed about twenty.  
_Now I've held back a wealth of shit, I think I'm gonna choke. I'm standing in the shadows with the words stuck in my throat._  
When was the worst time? Probably that time. The Dracula play, the doctor's appointment. Punching Amy in the face.  
_Does it really come as a surprise when I tell you I don't feel good?  
That nothing ever came from nothing, oh man ain't that the truth…  
Why do you love me, why do you love me, why do you love me? It's driving me crazy! _(x3)  
That day they met, and here she was over two years later.  
_I get back up and I do it again. I get back up and I do it again _(x2)  
_I do it, do it, do it, do it AGAIN._  
_I think you're sleeping with a friend of mine._ _I have no proof, but I think that I'm right.  
You've still got the most beautiful face. It just makes me sad most of the time.  
_There really was only one explanation. She loved him and he loved her back. It was completely without explanation. But she did.  
_I get back up and I do it again .I get back up and I do it again _(x2)  
_I do it, do it, do it, do it AGAIN…  
Why do you love me, why do you love me, why do you love me? It's driving me crazy!  
Why do you love me, why do you love me, why do you love me? It's driving me crazy!  
Why do you love me, why do you love me, why do you love me? It's driving me crazy!  
Why do you love me?  
WHY DO YOU LOVE ME?_  
Alex finished rinsing her hair and got out of the shower. She headed over to the closet in the bedroom.  
It was so surreal. She was going to a visitation. J.T. was dead.  
She honestly couldn't believe it had all happened. With a sigh she opened the closet, god forbid Jay ever actually hung anything up in there. It was mostly plastic stackable drawers filled with his clothes. The only things hung up were a few shirts. She grabbed a black dress from the group. She bought it yesterday and had considered wearing it to the party but chose the halter top instead. She quickly got dressed and then did her hair.  
It was one-thirty. She had to get going.  
Alex got out of the cab and saw everyone congregating just outside the doors.  
She saw Sean, and he had tears in his eyes. His face was sad and angry and sort of numb. It seemed like he was trying to keep everyone else calm.  
Alex hugged him. Inside she took the only available seat, in front of Jimmy and Ellie and next to Darcy. The service was nice, very somber. It reminded Alex that this was real. It was all happening. After they gave their condolences to J.T.'s grandmother, Ellie's mom gave her a ride back to her place. She walked in to see her own mother, sitting on the couch watching television.  
"Hi honey. I tried calling your cell but you left it at Jay's." Emily got up and embraced her daughter. "He told me where you were. Are you okay?"  
Alex gave her a meek smile. "Yeah. I'm just…I just can't believe it."  
"I know." She said while smoothing out the shoulders of Alex's dress. "But that's life. I just hope that this boy got to live a little. Fall in love, because that's what matters."  
"Yeah." Alex nodded, then went into her small bedroom. It was a mess, considering that even when she was there she never cleaned it and in the meantime her mother would pass out in there pretty regularly. She headed for the bed, then pulled the comforter up and looked into the darkness underneath it. Towards the back was a photo album. She started flipping through it.

…  
Alex didn't go to school the next day, she was still drained and slightly hung-over. On reflection, she couldn't believe she had made it through the entire day without puking. The one thing she did do was think, a lot.  
She was honestly attracted to Paige and even some other girls.  
But she was attracted to Jay too.  
It didn't make sense. How could she love two people who were so unbelievably different?  
And why had only one of the two relationships lasted?  
Well technically her and Jay weren't in a relationship. She liked to call it their "whatever". It was more than a friendship but it wasn't dating. Yet another thing in her life that didn't make any sense.  
She got an e-mail about the memorial at school and decided to go. Memorials are better than funerals. Besides she couldn't cry any more.

"Everyone may I have your attention? Welcome to the J.T. Yorke memorial. There's a lot of us that are affected by this nut we're not here to mourn J.T., we're hear to celebrate him and I'd like to start with a slideshow that I've put together with the help of Peter Stone and Gavin Mason."  
Wait, what? Poine Dexter and Spinner? Alex thought a loss like this one was a loss for all of Degrassi. She turned her eyes to the projector and smiled when J.T.'s face came on the screen. The pictures were nice, the song was sad. When all of it was over every one just sat there in silence.  
He will be missed.

Alex was surprised to see Jay's car in front of Degrassi. She walked over to Jay leaned against the passenger's side door.  
'Hey."  
"I doubt anyone would do something like that if I died." Alex rolled her eyes. "I figured you'd need a ride." He was about to say something but she kissed him. "Did I miss something?" He asked her when he pulled away. She shook her head and pressed her body into his. She looked straight into his eyes before kissing him again, harder this time. She brought her hands up to his face and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Two hours later the two lay side by side on the bed at the apartment.  
"And to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Jay asked her while she readjusted her herself under his arm, her head resting on his bare chest.  
"Do you love me?" Alex asked.  
"You know that I do, Lex." She turned her head to look up at him.  
"Why do you love me?" He looked at her, quite confused. She smiled and closed her eyes. "Never mind."


	8. Free Fallin' Part 1

**Chapter 8/Epsiode 14: Free Fallin' 1**

((**Disclaimer: I own no part of Degrassi, or song/place they took the title from. All the quotes from the episode, I did not write. No rights to any of the webpages in the footnotes either.))**

((Oh and btw-for anyone who didn't know: New Season 6 episodes of Degrassi will return to The N on June 29th 2007. This will be preceded by 5 weekends of Degrassi marathons showing every episode of Degrassi to date from the weekend of May 25th through the weekend of June 24th.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**: So basically if you're waiting for The-N, you're gonna have no idea what's going on. Go watch/download the episodes at one of the Degrassi myspaces or something if you're as sick of waiting as I am. I have already seen season six in it's entirety and cannot wait for season 7. More fun information at the end.))

**Alex's POV**  
Okay so sleeping with Jay confirmed it, I'm a lesbian. If I was slightly unsure before, now I'm not and NOT because of Jay. I love him to death, I always will, but I can't help that I like girls.  
And a few weeks ago I met someone I think I may actually like.  
Her name is Carla Gillette, she's originally from Quebec, but she's here for grad school. She's not exactly my 'type' but she's pretty cute and she likes me, so I decided to go for it.  
We went out for coffee after each of our shifts.  
"So tell me more about yourself." She said with a genuine smile. I smiled back, not nearly as genuine.  
"Um I'm not really that interesting. I'm eighteen but back in high school to upgrade my marks. I'm looking into physiotherapy as a major but I'm still not sure."  
"What university are you looking into?"  
"Banting." _Excuse me? Why did I say that? The closest I'm going to get to Banting is…Paige._ "I mean… well maybe. It's a huge reach."  
"That's great. Ambition is a good thing. Any sports?"  
"Lacrosse but I'm not exactly a team player."  
"You should do track then." I lifted my eyebrows. "I'm captain of my distant running team."  
"I hate running." I responded. I did, it was pretty much the bane of lacrosse practices.  
"Oh so did I, but I tried it out in high school. She smiled at me again. "So when did you first come out?"  
"I…didn't exactly. Um, me and this girl were friends and then it just sort of happened." Her brown eyes nodded in understanding.  
"You're lucky. It's not always that easy for some of us." She looked down awkwardly at her coffee mug. "So are you guys over?"  
"Yeah, by our differences and about 500 miles." I say with a smile. I hadn't thought about Paige in a while.  
Okay that's a lie.  
That is a huge elephant lie.  
I miss her like crazy and haven't spoken to her in a while. There used to be the odd phone call every couple of weeks, but lately nothing.  
"Alex?" Carla said, taking my hand.  
"Sorry. There's just a lot on my mind."  
…..

They were sitting on the couch at Alex's apartment. Alex had her legs draped over Jay's lap, both of them with cartons of Chinese food and a plastic fork. The TV was on as background noise. Emily and Chad were in the next room.  
"Isn't your girlfriend coming into town soon?" Jay said while stuffing greasy noodles into his mouth. Alex narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not a stalker. Thanksgiving is coming up this week." She looked away from him. "So?" He nudged her bare foot.  
"Yeah. Marco invited me over to their place for dinner." Alex said, hiding her excitement.  
"And?" Jay said nudging her foot again.  
"And nothing. She'll just be here for the weekend. We'll hang out, catch up, whatever."  
"Yeah right." He turned his blue eyes back to the screen.  
"Need I remind you where my foot is?" Alex said with her eyes glared. Jay rolled his eyes and went back to watching TV. But the noise was soon drowned out by Emily and Chad arguing. From the muffled bits of conversation they heard they could figure the fight was about what it was ALWAYS about, money.  
Alex smiled awkwardly at him. "So you said there was something you wanted to tell me?"  
"Yeah." Jay leaned over, and put the carton on the coffee table. "I'm not gonna be around for a while. I'm heading to Vancouver for few weeks."  
"Vancouver? Does this have anything to do with--"  
"Yeah." He said, trying not to be sarcastic. He didn't want to go at all.  
"Oh. That's…good, I guess. When are you leaving?"  
"Tomorrow. But you already know that you can call me, if you ever need anything."  
Alex smiled and nodded. She was glad she had Jay to be there for her, especially since her mother was a mess and Paige was obviously not. Maybe Carla could change all of that.

------------  
Alex heard Paige's voicemail, the next day, Friday, and was instantly scared. Paige was…Paige. She was organized, she never felt stressed or overwhelmed, she was perfect and everyone else was screwed up. So this whole "subway running over your lungs" business was a surprise. Especially since Alex had been using Paige as a model for success and kicking ass in school.  
She had off from school and was told to expect Paige around noon. She spent the morning in her room spray painting a sign she was making for Paige, trying to cheer her up as much as possible while she was home for the weekend.  
"What's all over your face?" Alex asked, shooting Marco a strange look.  
"Yeah Alex, come on in." Alex smiled and he closed the door behind her. "Before you ask, no she isn't here yet and since you asked it's from baking, because I have no idea what I'm doing."  
"Sorry I'd be no help to you." She wandered into the dining room where Dylan was reading through an information packet on Switzerland.  
"Hey. Ellie's not here?"  
"Nope, she is spending the weekend at home." He said distractedly. He got up with the magazine and went up the stairs. Alex proudly spread her banner out on the table and barely waited ten minutes before there was a knock on the door. She ran over and opened it, happy to see Paige on the other side.  
But Paige barely gave her so much a glance before hugged and complaining to her brother.  
"And hello to you too." To which Paige's only response was a half-smile. Then Marco came along, so Alex went back to her place at the table. When she was finally sure she had her attention, she held up sign and grinned. "You like? I made it myself."  
"Feeling hostile are we?"  
"It's not hostility, it's affection. The message you left sounded like the fabulous Banting girl need a little bit of a cheer up."  
"Yeah because the fabulous Banting girl has twelve tons of work to do." Paige responded, putting her books on the table.  
"Well now I'm here, and we have some serious catching up to do."  
The four of them spent the night watching stupid movies on TV, eating whatever was left in the fridge and old stale soda. But it was fun, none-the-less.  
"No wait, let's have a sleepover, right here." She said indicating the beat-up couch in the cramped living room. "…Just friends." She added with an eye roll. Alex sat back down, truth be told she didn't even really want to go home, and now that she couldn't go to Jay's, this was the next best thing.  
"Yeah I know doofus, I have a girlfriend." Alex told her.  
"You are so lying." Only half-way, her and Carla did like each other, but they hadn't made anything official yet.  
To her amazement, they both fit on the couch rather comfortably, though unable to move. As Paige got up, Alex did what she always did, covered her face and tried to fall back asleep. It was unsuccessful though, as the sounds the in kitchen were getting louder along with Paige logging onto her computer.  
"You're a loud person in the morning." She said to Marco as she walked into the kitchen, going straight to the freshly brewed coffee.  
"Oh good morning."  
"Good morning."  
"I'm sorry, did you sleep here or just not change your clothes?"  
"No, I think she slept here. We're not the only ones who overslept though." Dylan said, sitting down.  
"Where's Paige?" Alex jerked her head in the direction of the living room and grabbed the last muffin from the stack. "Hey, that's mine."  
"It's in my hand isn't it?"  
"I don't know Alex, it's my house."  
Alex loafed around the kitchen, helping where she could. But Marco and Dylan were mostly arguing about what supplies to buy while Paige paced around the room. At noon Paige's mom came, shoving instructions and pots into Paige's arms. Alex had seen her a few times before, but never realized how annoying she was. That's when Paige ran up the stairs and locked herself in the bathroom. Alex sat confused by the door, trying to get her to talk.  
"Paige, you alright?" She said with a knock. All she could hear was her's slow breathing on the other side. "Don't make me be nice." Nothing. "Okay you made me. Paige Michalchuk: you are the prettiest, smartest, bestest--"  
"WHY ARE YOU PUTTING MORE PRESSURE ON ME ALEX?!" What?  
"Pressure…what are you talking about?"  
"Forget it okay! Leave me alone! Go."  
"Forget what, what's wrong?"  
"You don't get it Alex, and you never will! So just go back to your stupid pathetic little straight a high school life with your pathetic imaginary girlfriend! Just go away!"  
What. The. Fuck. Alex ran down the stairs, grabbed her bag and slammed the door behind her. She speed walked in the chilly air all the way to the Dot.  
Although Alex would never admit it, she needed Jay.  
She had been viciously stabbing her fork into her plate of fries for an hour or so, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and was presented with Carla's concerned face.  
"Hey. Is something wrong?" Alex quickly wiped any tell-tale tears off her face. "Did something happen?"  
"I…I'm not really sure.." Carla sat down at the table and held Alex's hand.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" Alex felt content in that she cared. Then a thought occurred to her.  
"If I promise to give you the whole story later, will you do me a huge favor right now, no questions asked?"  
Carla contemplated this and then agreed, though slightly reluctantly. Alex felt a little bad for exploiting her the way she was about to, but she needed to show Paige how serious she was.  
The two of them went to Alex's place, where she changed and grabbed a bag of buns left on top the refrigerator.  
She entered the dining room with a smug smile on her face, but wiped it away pretty quickly.  
"Are we late? We brought buns." She said holding up the bag. Everyone at the table looked a little confused.  
"I made buns." Paige told her, annoyed.  
"Don't be rude." Paige's mom told her. "Hello Alex."  
Dylan went upstairs to get chairs. Paige got up with him and came over to Alex, glaring as she did.  
"What are you doing here?"  
"Well, you invited me. And I wanted to make sure you were okay after your little breakdown."  
Paige looked awkward for a moment, but recovered quickly. "Alex is a pathological liar."  
Carla was already starting to get antsy, regretting saying yes to this. She had no idea what was going on.  
"Alex, maybe we should just--"  
"Who's your friend?" Alex smiled in Paige's general direction.  
"This is Carla. My imaginary girlfriend."  
Dylan came back with the chairs and Carla and Alex sat down to eat. Alex was next to Paige's mother, who was singing her praises with every mouthful. Then their father went on about Dylan's hockey. Okay you have the world's most wonderful children…get over it.  
"Did you know Carla is an honors grad student and she's captain of the Trana Xi distance running team." Okay, that was childish…Alex thought after she said it. Besides it only led to Paige's mom's continuous rant on how wonderful her daughter was. Blahhh, blahh, blah.  
"Here it is, complete with traditional Michalchuk family walnut stuffing." Paige introduced, putting the turkey down on the table. Paige's mom kept talking, while Paige continued to dodge her questions, until…the walnut stuff exploded all over Paige's black dress. Alex started laughing hysterically…how could you not laugh hysterically?  
Marco chased after Paige. After Paige didn't come back downstairs for another ten minutes Alex decided to leave.

It had been one hell of a Thanksgiving weekend, that was for damn sure.

------------------

**6-1-07  
**Why oh why did it take me this long to update this? I'm actually embarrassed. This has been sitting at the part right before the turkey explodes for like two months. What the hell?  
I wanted to upload it on May 1 because I had gone to the Degrassi/Spring Awakening Live Verbal Mash-up in NYC the day before. OMG, it was the most amazing thing I have ever done. For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about April 30th a few of the Degrassi Cast sat down with Rosie O'Donnell and the some of the cast of the musical Spring Awakening. They talked about the teen issues that happen on the shows. It was Aubrey (Jimmy), Lauren (Paige), Adamo (Marco), Stacey (Ellie), Shane (Spinner) and my personal favorite Mike Lobel (Jay)! Oh yeah and Zach Braff was there for a little while-he is so funny. I got two autographs, some amazing pictures and it was such a fun day in the city. I got to talk to Shane, who is really adorable and so genuine with fans. My friend told him he was cute and he said thank you…lol he's just so nice. I didn't get Mike's autograph, to my great annoyance. He was a few feet away from me when they had to leave and he was rushed back inside, but I still got his picture.  
The links won't work here, so if you want to watch it definetly message me. Links to my pictures are on a Degrassi forum site (that it refuses to let me link up, you'll have to message me) on and some on my The-N account. (Both under user name Alex3Jay)  
Oh yeah and definitely if you have the opportunity (like an extra $135 and free time in NYC, lol) definitely go see Spring Awakening. I'm whoring a show I haven't seen yet, but once you watch the mash-up which shows clips from it, I'm pretty sure you will fall in love. I found out afterwards that many of my friends are obsessed with it too, so all we need is a day where we can all go see it (oh yeah and the money). And if you still have doubts, go to the website and listen to the music. If you love shows like Rent, this will be right up your alley. I'm currently in love with Jonathan Groff- both him and his character Melchior (the badboy, like Jay) and his amazing voice! He isn't at Mike's level just yet, but I did meet him before I met Mike, so he is getting there. LOL. With all that said, please REVIEW!


End file.
